My Genealogy Do-Over Finds: BARBER and FREDENBURG Cemetery Records and Plat Map

I've had to slow down on my Genealogy Do-Over. Currently, I'm in a one-week break between working late supervising students during 7th grade basketball games and the beginning of my latest five-week round of genealogy classes for the Community Colleges of Spokane. Also, the following week, the 8th grade basketball games begin. There won't be another pause until Spring Break during the first full week of April.

But what I've done is placed a box of miscellaneous genealogy files and documents on my dining room table, and as I have five or 15 minutes between tasks or when I'm waiting for my water to boil for tea, I'll do a little decluttering or filing.

One of the items in the box I've been going through this week was a binder my paternal grandmother, Jeanne (HOLST) ROBBINS, an adoptee, put together of family tree records I sent her in 1997 when I found her biological family. I weeded out duplicate copies of things and filed the original documents I had given her. Within the binder, I found two documents that I realized I had not given her. In fact, she herself had obtained them when she and my grandfather reunited with her biological cousins and aunt and they went to visit the graves of her biological mother, maternal grandmother, and a maternal aunt. These were new documents for me and they gave me a lot of information about their specific burial locations.

Stiles Cemetery Office (Mayfield Township, Lapeer Co., Michigan), plat map, citing the Barber family, lot 443.
Click to enlarge.

Stiles Cemetery Office (Mayfield Township, Lapeer Co., Michigan), plat map.
Click to enlarge.

The lot records list my great-grandmother, Mary Jane (BARBER) DUNLAP, her mother Mary Jane (FREDENBURG) KELLER, and her sister, Clara May (BARBER) REYNOLDS. One grave space belonging to the family, Grave 5, remained unused by 1997.

In the cemetery plat map, I recognize the writing in the left and right margins as belonging to my paternal grandfather, Bob Robbins, Sr. The writing in the right margin is the inscriptions on Jeanne's mother's and grandmother's headstones, as compared with photos I have of said headstones, mailed to me by my cousin.

Besides being elated at discovering documents I did not already have, I realized something. Years ago, I obtained the death certificate of my grandmother's biological father, Howard Merle YORK, which stated he also was buried in Stiles Cemetery. I attempted to get a photograph of his grave through the Find A Grave photo request service, but was told by someone that his grave must be unmarked and that the cemetery records had all been destroyed years ago in an office fire. I'm still looking through all my hand-written research logs to determine who sent me that information. At this point, it matters little, because I have discovered that this is indeed not the case. This misinformation was part of the reason I did not attempt to locate the exact lot location of the Barber women graves, because I thought it had been lost in a fire. I figured since I was in touch with family members who knew where the graves were located, were tending the graves faithfully, and who had sent me photographs of them, this would be adequate for locating them myself if I ever had the opportunity to visit. My next step will be to contact the Stiles cemetery office to see if I can obtain a lot record for my great-grandfather's grave.

It just goes to show that it's good to 1) revisit your folders once in a while to see what "new" things you may discover; 2) question information you get from others, and do a little following-up yourself; and 3) never give up on trying to locate original or substitute records.

What discoveries have you made since you started your Genealogy Do-Over?

Genealogy Do-Over Review: Week 2

Wednesday concluded Week 2 of the Genealogy Do-Over, and this is my review of those topics:

Setting Research Goals
As I stated in my post, "Key Genealogy Categories for Targeting Your Goals," my main research goal for 2015 is the following: "I will correctly cite in my RootsMagic database all known facts for my ROBBINS ancestors, as well as all their descendants. I will download or scan all correlating documents, and name and file them on my hard drive according to my digital filing system. My purpose is to have a prepared database for a 2016 goal of publishing a family history. I intend to spend a minimum of one hour a week each Sunday afternoon working on this goal."

I've already begun this work, and serendipitously enough, have just this week gotten in contact with another descendant of my (our) infamous ancestor, Uzza ROBBINS.


Conducting Self Interview
Years ago, I began a blog called AnceStories 2: Stories of Me for My Descendants which had weekly journal prompts. My responses were journaled here at this blog.

I've also kept various journals in electronic and paper form, as well as written a Christmas letter nearly every year since 1990 which serves as an excellent annual summary. My kids gave me, at my request, a Hallmark journal for Mother's Day about five years ago which has questions to answer about my life's story. I do need to spend some time consolidating everything into one location (like my hard drive) and then create back ups. It's just not a feasible goal for this year.


Conducting Family Interviews
When I first started doing genealogy in 1987, I wrote all my grandparents who lived across the country from me, and asked them questions, which they answered in letters. I also interviewed them when they came for visits, and kept notes of some of the phone conversations I had with my maternal grandmother.

My parents are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year. I am considering how I could conduct some audio or video interviews about their lives, although both were proficient letter writers, and both sets of my grandparents saved the hundreds of letters my parents wrote to them in Michigan from Alaska from 1966 through 1979. My paternal grandparents also saved my dad's college letters from Canada in the early 1960s. I've been scanning all these letters over the past five years. Yes, it has taken that long! I have kept notes of conversations I've had with my parents in the past 30 years when they've  told stories about their ancestors or when I've asked specific questions about family history.

I do have one grandaunt still living, and I've been thinking I need to interview her as well. In fact, that would be a priority over interviewing my parents, considering her age. She is the youngest sibling of my paternal grandfather (who was the eldest). She wouldn't remember some of the grandparents and great-grandparents of that generation the way my grandfather did, but getting her perspective on the family history would still be invaluable. She does live across the country, so I would probably interview her via letter as I did my grandparents.

Tuesday's Tip: Staying On Track with a Research Log

You know you've done it.

Spent an hour browsing through unindexed images on FamilySearch, found the images of your ancestor's probate record, downloaded all 27 pages of it, and...realized you'd already downloaded them last year.

Or you ordered a death certificate of that ancestor's sibling, hoping it will reveal the names of their parents. Spent over $35.00. Waited two weeks. The certificate finally arrives with little information in it. Sighing, you go to file it and..,yep. You've already got that certificate, although you can't remember ever ordering it.

I'm guilty. You're guilty. We're all guilty.

In fact, I almost committed the genea-crime of re-researching the other night, while hoping to find more information to fill in my blog posts in my "Where is Lura Buried?" series. Fortunately, I remembered my research log for the PECK family, opened it, and prevented about 20 minutes of searching for what would have been a negative result. Whew! Saved by the research log!

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If you're not using a research log, you are wasting time. You are wasting money. You are wasting energy. Your genealogy research is inefficient at best and ineffective at worst.

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Now the good news is, there are many ways to keep a research log, and most of them are free.

You can keep a simple log in a notebook. There are free research log forms available online for you to print up; just go to Cyndi's List and find links to a number of them. Some people prefer using electronic notebooks, such as Evernote or OneNote. Most genealogical software, including my preferred one, RootsMagic, have research logs built in as well. My preference is using a spreadsheet, and Thomas MacEntee has a great one here.

My own research log is available as a free download. I've made a copy of this and placed it in every surname research folder on my hard drive. Within each surname research log, I create a sheet for each individual in that family I'm researching by using the same steps outlined in my post about timelines.

Remember last week when I said there are times when you might not use a research plan?

Those times are when you set out to explore a collection, online or offline, to discover what it might hold for a number of ancestors. For instance, you might realize that Ancestry has released a new database for a county where people from five of your family lines once lived. 

This is where the research log especially is handy.

You can open those logs for each of the surnames, copy and paste the date, website, and collection name into each one, and start your searching, keeping notes every time you change a search term or get a result (positive or negative). And prevent the genea-crime of re-researching!

I hope this information is useful, and I appreciate your feedback.

Next week, we'll talk about research reports.

Genealogy Do-Over Review: Week 1

Today begins Week 2 of the Genealogy Do-Over, so here is my review of the topics of Week 1:

Setting Previous Research Aside
Many participants have decided to recreate their family tree in their genealogy software, using the best practices they have learned since they first started researching their family history. In my post, My Goals for the Genealogy Do-Over, I stated that I was not going to do this. My reasons are that I have invested too much time over the years, as well as having improved on how I conduct my research, cite my sources, and come to conclusions. However, in the spirit of things, I have stopped doing any research other than the current individual I'm blogging about this month, my 4th-great-grandmother, Lura Ann (JACKSON) PECK CRAPSEY.


Preparing to Research
One thing I've done is to assess how much "stuff" I've got. Although I've pretty much migrated solely to digital records, I do have a lot of censuses and other documents I printed up from microfilm or from my early days of Internet research, when storage space on hard drives was a premium. All my hard copy folders were sitting in a lateral file cabinet that quite frankly, isn't handling the weight of all that paper very well. The drawers are difficult to open and close. So I have bought some file boxes instead and placed all the folders from my dad's lines into two boxes, and all the ones from my mom's lines into one box. I am also researching my children's paternal grandparents' lines, and those folders fit into one box each.

All four of my biological grandparents and my maternal step-grandfather have passed away, and in handling the estates, my aunts and uncles generously sent me many original documents and photographs from my grandparents' lives, as well as my grandparents' ancestors' lives. Much of this still needs to be curated, and was sitting in cardboard boxes in the spare room closet, prone to possible damage from moisture and insects. I have stored these items in water-proof 18-gallon totes, and while this certainly isn't archival quality storage nor a permanent one, it is far better than the cardboard boxes.

I made an interesting discovery: I have less square footage of "stuff" than I thought I did. That's not to say that I don't have a lot. It definitely will take a long time to curate. But a lot of the space that was being taken up was created by the storage means themselves (cardboard boxes). So my tasks will be less than I originally thought. It's a relief!


Establishing Base Practices and Guidelines
I created a checklist for myself on research practices and guidelines:

1. Whenever I being research, I will open the research log(s) pertinent to the individual(s) I am researching. I will then record the source I am using for research, as well as the date.

2. Once I start my research, in my research log(s) I will make notes of search terms used, whether or not an index was consulted, and the results of that search/information found (positive, negative, irrelevant, or uncertain). I will be sure to list details (pages, image numbers, columns, etc.) for easier re-finding. This step is pertinent or both online and offline research.

3. Next, I will copy or download pertinent pages of the documents I researched. If I am photocopying an offline document, I will scan it when I get home.

4. The digital documents will be renamed according to my digital naming system and placed in their corresponding digital folder. Hard copy documents will be discarded unless they are original documents that have great sentimental, historical, or monetary value (i.e. birth certificates, military discharge papers). Hard copy documents that are saved will be filed in their corresponding file folder and file box. Fragile hard copy documents will be stored in archival safe, acid-free storage boxes.

5. Next the information will be added to the correct person(s) in my genealogy software, RootsMagic. I will cite my sources correctly in that software, using its Citation Manager and Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace by Elizabeth Shown Mills. I will also rank the record in the Citation Manager, as to its source, information, and evidence type.

6. I will track the information in my research plan and research report (conclusion) as well.

7. I will backup my data to my external hard drive and my online backup service (IDrive) at least once a month.

The above seven guidelines are aligned with my first two Genealogy Do-Over Goals: Slow Down and Do It Right. After all, my family tree deserves the same respect and care that I would give any other client!


Disclosure: I am an affiliate for Amazon.com, and as such, receive compensation for products advertised on and linked from this blog.

Tuesday's Tip: Research Plan - An Explanation and a Template

Ever feel that solving a genealogy problem is like navigating a challenging game of chess? Here's how a research plan can help!

A number of people who are participating in the Genealogy Do-Over have asked about how to create research plans or find forms or templates to use. Whether or not you're participating, you may wish to know more about research plans, why and when to use them, and how to create them.

When I took the ProGen professional genealogy course, one of our early lessons was learning how to create research plans, based on Chapter 14: "Problem Analyses and Research Plans" of Professional Genealogy: A Manual for Researchers, Writers, Editors, Lecturers, and Librarians. We used one of our own research problems to develop one. Here is an example of one I wrote to determine if my 2nd-great-grandmother is the same person as an orphaned girl I found in records in the Netherlands.

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"Plan refers to the process of thinking through our purposes and procedures before research begins."

--Helen F. Leary 

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First of all, what is a research plan, and what is its place in genealogy? According to Helen F. Leary, author of the aforementioned chapter, "Plan refers to the process of thinking through our purposes and procedures before research begins."

So what is our purpose? It can be to find the names of the parents of a brick wall ancestor. It can be to uncover the maiden surname of a married female ancestor. It can be to answer any of a thousand questions: "Why did my ancestor move West? Where is he buried? How many children did she have? Did he serve in the Civil War? Is my family legend true?"

What are our procedures? These are the process and systematic steps we take in our attempt to solve our problem.

There are four to six basic parts of a research plan:

1. Objective - This is our purpose (see above). It can be written as a statement or a question.

2. Known Facts - Obviously, this is what you already know about your research problem which you are attempting to solve. The information about the person should be placed in chronological order, citing the sources where each fact was found. This is where a timeline of the person's life can be really helpful.

3. Potential Conflicting Data - Very often, we hit a brick wall because of a Major Problem. One of my examples is that I have an ancestor listed on the 1890 Union Veterans Census. One problem--the conflicting data--is that the unit number he supposedly served from (101st New York Volunteers) did not muster from anywhere near his place of residence. I believe there's a simple explanation: the numbers got reversed. The 110th New York Volunteers did muster from his county. However, there is another problem: except for the veterans census, I cannot find any other evidence that this ancestor served in the Civil War. I have to explain this in the Potentially Conflicting Data part of my research plan.

By the way, not every plan will have this part. You may not have conflicting data at all. You may be simply stuck with not enough data!

4. Working Hypothesis - You may have an idea about what the answer could be to your problem. This is where that idea is stated. You should list your reasons as to why you believe this statement could be true.

When you first start your research plan, you may not have a hypothesis. As you start to research, one may form, and you can add this in at that time.

5. Identified Sources - These are the sources I've already looked at, which have given me my known facts, and--if I have conflicting data--be where I've found information that confuses the situation. These identified sources will be the same as the cited sources for my Known Facts, with possible additions, but are simply given in a source list entry or biographical form.

6. Research Strategy - Here is where we list the steps of what we're going to do, and where we're going to do it. Are we going to look at particular databases on Ancestry.com? Do we have a list of microfilm numbers at the Family History Center for records we believe will solve our problem? Is there a book in our local genealogical society's library that may have an answer?

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Here is a link to your own free research plan template which you can download to your computer. You can open it with any word processing program (like Microsoft Word), edit it to fit your research objectives, and save it as another document in your genealogy research folder, or in the relevant notes section of your genealogy software.

And? Keep it simple. It doesn't have to look as complicated as the example of my 2nd-great-grandmother. But it covers all the bases: what you've done, the snags you've hit, and where you're going.

One thing to keep in mind: We don't always use a research plan in every search (I'll explain the exceptions in next Tuesday's Tip post). However, whenever you have a question about an ancestor or another person you are researching, you definitely should use one!

I hope this template is helpful, and I'd appreciate your feedback.

Happy Hunting!


Disclosure: I am an affiliate for Amazon.com, and as such, receive compensation for products advertised on and linked from this blog.

Key Genealogy Categories for Targeting Your Goals

Yesterday, I posted how to set SMART Genealogy Goals for yourself.

It's all fine and well to set a genealogy goal (or two...or five), but which one(s) do you pick? 

After all, there are all those brick wall ancestors, the family trees you're trying to untangle, that messy file cabinet or hard drive (or both), the classes you want to take, the photos you need to scan, and that blog you've meant to start for three years now. And what about that trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City?

In reviewing my own genealogy goals, I realized there were six categories that most could fall under: research targets, methodology, organization and preservation, education, publishing, and fun. Yes, I believe fun should be a genealogy goal. If you can't have fun with your genealogy, why bother? 

So let me explain the different categories and how you might use them to focus in on your genealogy goals:

Research Target - Here is where you concentrate on a brick wall ancestor (or several), a family line (or two), or try to uncover the truth about a mystery (Whatever did happen to that brother of my 2nd-great-grandmother?).

My own Research Target goal looks like this: "In 2015, I will correctly cite in my RootsMagic database all known facts for my ROBBINS ancestors, as well as all their descendants. I will download or scan all correlating documents, and name and file them on my hard drive according to my digital filing system. My purpose is to have a prepared database for a 2016 goal of publishing a family history. I intend to spend a minimum of one hour a week each Sunday afternoon working on this goal."

Methodology - Most of us realize we can do better in our research methods. These include developing a research plan, following the genealogy research process, citing our sources, analyzing and correlating the information found, resolving conflicting evidence, and producing a soundly-reasoned, coherently-written conclusion. These are the elements of the genealogical proof standard, and I can assure you that if you follow these, you'll knock down a lot of unnecessary brick walls.

My Methodology goal is merged with my Research Target goal stated above, where I mention correctly citing sources. I also have a research plan I will put in place to work toward determining who the parents of my Robbins brick wall ancestor are.

Organization and Preservation - This category covers a lot of details that many genealogists focus on in goal-setting: filing, whether in file drawers or on a computer hard drive; backing up data; curating a collection; scanning photos and documents; purchasing archival safe and acid-free storage products; tagging digital photos; and deciding who should inherit your genealogy are all important tasks of being a good genealogist, family historian, and family curator.

I'll continue to host Scanfest once a month for three hours on the last Sunday of most months. My focus this year will be to complete the scanning of my mother's weekly letters over thirteen years from our homes in Alaska to her parents in Michigan. I will also begin scanning my father's letters to his parents in Michigan from his college in Alberta.

Education - There's always room for improvement in our knowledge and skills. Whether reading about the history of the times and places in which your ancestors lived; taking classes at your local genealogical or historical society; attending a webinar, conference, or workshop; taking an NGS or ProGen course; or participating in a more academic institute such as SLIG or GRIP--the more you know, the better genealogist you'll become.

My Education goal for 2015 includes learning more about probate and court records by reading books and blogs and attending webinars. I also will read more scholarly genealogy publications in anticipation of publishing my Robbins family history.

Publishing - The final goal of any genealogist should be publishing. No one in your family is going to sit down and look through your genealogy software or file folders for fun! They want stories, photos, items, recipes...things with which they can identify at a human interest level. Writing a blog, publishing short stories of your ancestors, creating a scrapbook or photo album, or authoring a family history book are all ways to generate interest among your family members and pass the love of family history along.

My Publishing goal will be to write about one ancestor a month. I wish I had the time to participate in 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, but I know I won't have the endurance, nor the time. I also have an e-book in mind that I've been toying with, but have not set a goal for yet.

Fun - The best part of all should be a Fun goal! Maybe you've never attended a large-scale conference before. Perhaps you'd like to take a genealogy cruise. Is there a major genealogy library or repository you'd love to visit? How about a road trip that includes a number of ancestral locations? Have you considered organizing a family reunion? There are so many ways to include fun as a part of your genealogical journey!

I did a lot of traveling the past few years and really had a lot of fun at conferences, the Family History Library, and meeting a number of my fellow geneabloggers. Those things aren't on my agenda or in my budget for this coming year. Instead, my Fun goal is rather simple: getting to meet a number of people at several upcoming gatherings who will eventually become members of my own family; to learn their stories and backgrounds; and to incorporate them into my life, my heart, and my genealogical database.

There you have it! Six genealogy categories for targeting genealogy goals.

Of course, you may wish to come up with your own categories. You may even want to take some ideas from SMART goal worksheets that you can find online and create your own, using your own key genealogy categories.

My one word of caution is that you not overload yourself with too many goals. One goal in each category is plenty, and you may even wish to minimize your list to two to four categories.

What say you? Are you ready to make 2015 a successful genealogy year...one that you'll look back on 365 days from now with a feeling of accomplishment? Best of luck to you in your endeavors, and Happy New Year!

SMART Genealogy Goals

It's that time of year. 

For some, it's an annual ritual, making New Year's resolutions or goals. A few people are successful; many are not.

Those who are successful often create SMART goals. SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. You can Google "SMART goals" and find lots of helpful articles and worksheets that pertain to the common goals you will find in most people's lives: health, finances, relationships, career, spiritual, etc.

But why not apply SMART goals to genealogy?

It's pretty simple. Think of a genealogy goal you have in mind...say, organizing your genealogy "stuff." You can break that goal down into its SMART parts to make it more achievable.

Specific - "Organizing your genealogy stuff" or "getting organized" isn't specific. It doesn't tell what's expected, why it's important, who’s involved, where it's going to happen and which attributes are important.

A more specific goal would be: "I [who] will create a file folder system [what] for my maternal grandfather's lines [which] in the bottom two drawers of my filing cabinet [where] so that I can easily find the documents I need and put them properly away when done [why]."

Measurable - It's important to measure your progress toward your goal; if you can't measure it, you don't know if you're making progress. This is especially helpful to make sure you are staying (or getting back) on track when you hit the inevitable challenges or setbacks.

An example of a measurable quantifier in regard to the above goal could be: "I will spend two hours every Sunday afternoon working on creating my file folder system for Grandpa's lines."

Two measurements are listed here: how much [two hours] and how often [every Sunday]. Of course, it's necessary to assess beforehand if 104 hours a year would be enough, too little, or too much time to achieve the goal by year's end.

Attainable - This criterion is related to abilities and skills. For most of us, creating a filing system is well within our ability and skill level. However, if you are someone who considers herself to be "organizationally challenged," you may need to learn how to create an effective filing system. Some things many genealogists struggle with is what to do with a married woman's documents: does she have a folder under her maiden or married name (or both)? If both, do you duplicate everything for both folders, or do you keep documents that pertain to pre-married life in her maiden name folder, and those for her post-married life in her married name folder? What if you discover she remarried after her husband--your ancestor--died? Then where will you file her documents?

In another example, if your goal was related to obtaining wills for a specific group of ancestors, and you have never done courthouse research and know nothing about the probate process, you may need to make some adjustments. Either create a different goal, or modify it to include educating yourself in this area by reading a book on courthouse research, taking a class or webinar on probate records, or having a mentor (more experienced genealogist) walk you through the process.

Realistic - Do you have the resources (time, money, energy) to reach your goal? You've decided to spend two hours every Sunday afternoon working on your organization goal, but then you realize that you've recently committed to be on your local community center's advisory board, which meets at 3:00 p.m. the first Sunday of every month. Also, your recently-widowed mother with health issues will need to be checked on several times a week, and--while you're sharing this duty with your siblings--you're the only one that is free to do so on the weekends. Will you really be able to reach your goal? If not, how can you adjust it so you can?

Timely - When will I know this goal is complete? What should be accomplished six months from now? How about six weeks from now? How do I stay on track?

A habit I recently developed is to spend a half hour every Sunday afternoon to reflect on my goals (relationships, health, finances, career, household, genealogy, and creativity) as well as a character trait I am focusing on (forgiveness, determination, generosity, etc.). That half hour is set as a repeated goal on my Google calendar every Sunday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. and an alert is sent to my cell phone to remind me to stop and do this. When I reflect on my goals and weekly outcomes, I don't beat myself up if I went off-track. I either succeed or I learn. Perhaps my health goal was to get eight hours of sleep every night the previous week, but I ended up having two nights in a row of only six hours each. Upon further investigation, I realize that the first night's lack of enough sleep was caused by having caffeine too late in the day, while the second night's was caused by noisy customers at the restaurant down the block. I have little control over the second situation, but I make a note to remember not to have caffeine (even in tea) after 1:00 p.m.

The same methods can be applied toward your SMART genealogy goals: reflect, note your successes or lessons, adjust or modify if necessary, and carry on.

Some things to consider when making SMART genealogy goals:

• What do I want this to look like at the end of the year?
• How often am I going to reflect to see if I'm on track?
• How do I adjust if I come across a challenge or a setback?
• How do I stay motivated?
• Do I need some sort of accountability? Some genealogists partner up for this, in the same way that weight-loss or exercise partners do. The Genealogy Do-Over Group on Facebook is a great place to find such a partner or a support group.

The answers to these questions really are up to you.

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I hope this has given you some ideas to ponder for making SMART genealogy goals. Tomorrow, I will publish a post on the categories that genealogy goals can cover: research targets, methodology, organization and preservation, education, publishing, and fun. Yes, one should always consider the fun in any group of goals, which is why I have creativity as a category in my personal goals. Stay tuned!